When my husband and I celebrated our first Valentine’s Day together as a new couple, he was two hours late for our date. I was annoyed, until he finally showed up at my door with a homemade Oreo cheesecake – the same dessert we had shared on our first date together. I thought, “how sweet, original, and romantic!” while he thought “how inexpensive!”

Here are two yummy, inexpensive, and simple Valentine’s Day sweet treat recipes.

Oreo Cheesecake Truffles

These chocolate-y delights are so simple to make that anyone can be a dessert chef for a day. They’re also great to make with your kids if they enjoy getting their hands a little messy.

Ingredients:

1 box (12 cakes) of Oreo Cakesters (or you can use a box of Oreo sandwich cookies)

1 package of cream cheese (8 oz), softened

2 cups of semi-sweet baking chocolate

Directions:

Unpack the Oreo Cakesters and dump them into a large bowl along with the cream cheese. (If you use Oreo cookies instead of the Cakesters, you will need to grind them up first in a blender.) Mix the ingredients thoroughly (I’ve found using your hands makes this much easier. Just be sure to wash them first!)

Melt the baking chocolate in the microwave for about a minute and then dip the balls into the chocolate. Place each truffle on a baking sheet that has been covered in wax paper.

Refrigerate truffles until firm, approximately 1 hour. Enjoy!

Approximate Cost:

Here are the actual prices of the ingredients that I used.

1 box of Oreo Cakesters: $2.49

1 pkg of cream cheese: $1.19

2 cups of semi-sweet bakers chocolate: $3.39

The total cost was $7.07 for 30 balls, which is equal to 24 cents a truffle! If you use coupons at the grocery store, you can drive down the cost of these treats even more!

Double-Dipped Chocolate Covered Strawberries

This is a great recipe to display not only your cooking skills but also your creative side as well. Your friends will be really impressed with you and will never suspect how easy it is.

Ingredients:

1 cup of white chocolate

12 skewers

12 large fresh strawberries

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Wash the strawberries thoroughly and set them on paper towels to dry.

Microwave the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl for one minute on high, and then stir. If the chocolate does not completely melt, microwave it again for just 15 seconds, and then stir again. Keep microwaving and stirring in 15-second intervals until the white chocolate is completely melted.

Insert a skewer into each of the washed strawberries. Then dip a strawberry into the white chocolate and stick the other end of the skewer into a glass full of sugar to hold the strawberry upright while the chocolate hardens. Repeat this process with the other strawberries.

Microwave the milk chocolate using the same method as the white chocolate.

Remove a skewer from the glass and dip the white chocolate strawberries into the milk chocolate. Place the skewer back in the glass to allow the milk chocolate to harden on the strawberry. Repeat this process with the other strawberries.

Place a ribbon or bow on the glass to create a decorated display of the double-dipped chocolate covered strawberries. The display should resemble roses in a vase. Enjoy!

Approximate Cost:

Here are the actual prices of the ingredients that I used.

1 cup of white chocolate: $2.89 (only used half the bag so cost was $1.45)

12 skewers: $1.99 (cost was for 100 skewers so 12 skewers cost $0.24)

12 large fresh strawberries: $2.88 (container held approximately 24 strawberries; cost of 12 is $1.44)

Casey SlideCasey Slide lives with her husband and baby in Atlanta, GA. She graduated from the University of Florida in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and worked for a prominent hospital in Atlanta. With the birth of Casey’s son in February 2010, she decided to become a stay-at-home mom. Casey’s interests include reading, running, living green, and saving money.

I made chocolate covered strawberries for the first time this Valentine’s Day for my husband. We both loved them and they went fast! Next year I’ll try the double dipped kind and the oreo cheesecake truffles! My husband bought me a box of Godiva Chocolate Covered Truffles and without a doubt we both agreed my strawberries were 100x better in taste and way cheaper than the $25.00 he spent! Great advice!

Casey Slide

Haha! Good for you!

Sharon

I would like to print your information at times. Is there a way to print your great ideas and not the whole page? Thanks for your great advice, Casey.

Casey Slide

Hi Sharon. Glad you like the post! Did you see Katie’s replies? Here is what she said about printing:

Sharon,

You can highlight the information and copy and paste it into notepad or a word document and print it. Or you coudl try highlighting it and in the print box options select print selected only.

Want to claify to use the print selected only you must first highlight the information then right click it and select print preview, once the print preview box opens up there should be an option box at the top that you can change from as laid out on screen to as selected on screen. Hope that helps!

Katie

Sharon,

You can highlight the information and copy and paste it into notepad or a word document and print it. Or you coudl try highlighting it and in the print box options select print selected only.

Katie

Want to claify to use the print selected only you must first highlight the information then right click it and select print preview, once the print preview box opens up there should be an option box at the top that you can change from as laid out on screen to as selected on screen. Hope that helps!

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